Gladiator
by LM3ALLEM
Summary: 'Every champion was once a contender that refused to give up'. Clementine, Luke, Nick and Sarah are captured and brought to a new camp. Sinister and deathly, the camp and it's members are not to be taken lightly. Old friends and enemies thrive there, but there's reasons why. Inhumane as they are, it's how you survive.
1. Road to Hell

**A/N: One quick thing I need to get out of the way, Clementine will not be shipped with anyone! She's staying eleven years old in this fanfic, I do not support any ships with her that keep her at that age. I only ship Clementine with someone if she was older!**

 **This is not a Cluke story!**

 **This is not a Click story!**

 **This is not a Clenny story!**

Gladiator

Chapter one; Road to Hell

Enjoy!

* * *

 _'It takes ten times longer to put yourself together as it does to fall apart.' 'If you don't take chances, you don't get the possible good.'_

 _'If you don't have ups and downs in life, you're dead.' 'Before you give up, think about the reason you held on for so long.'_

* * *

Nick slowly walked up to a window frame in the front of the mobile home and carefully moved a bit of the curtain out of the way, so he could at least get a peek at what was waiting for them outside.

He practically jumped, his eyes went wide with fear and he ducked under the windowsill. His eyes darted from every other member in the room and then back at the front door, which was blocked by a large wooden cabinet.

It was almost absolute silence, the only thing that really filled the survivor's ears were the sounds of their heavy and deep breaths. Sarah was bitting down tightly on her lip, preventing herself from letting out the screams and squeals that were compacted into her throat.

The whole room smelled of sweat and mold, disgusting as it was, they would rather be in the small, foul structure than out in the open. Suddenly, shouts and the slamming of car doors filled the room, the visitors have arrived.

Luke placed his ear against the old, neglected, wall paper. He concentrated and pressed his hand against the wall as well, trying to get a better position. But what he heard sent the survivors into a panic.

 _"Dude, I saw them go in there, come on. It's no harm to just check it out."_

 _"Fine. I'm bringing the goons in though, just incase they're armed or try anything. Man, if they did go in there..Thats four more people to add."_

 _"I know, the big boss is gonna be happy."_

Two men, maybe more than that were heading towards them, armed and ready for anything. The group was trapped. There wasn't a single window or exit in the back of the mobile home and if they tried to get out through the skylight, they would surely be seen.

Luke turned and faced the remaining members, "We need to hide, now, these guys aren't playing around. Come on!" He whispers, fear lingered in his quiet voice, and pain was visible in his chocolate eyes.

"W-where do we hide? There's nothing in here." Sarah manages to get out, fear and panic have consumed her, she sat there with her legs tightly molded against her chest and her hands clutched on her fragile waist.

As if she was glass and cracking, holding on to avoid shattering. It seems to fit, "I don't know, try a cabinet or something, but whatever you do, you gotta do it fast. It's just like hide and seek, just like that." Luke says, placing a reassuring hand on her shoulder.

It was almost like he was just trying to convince himself, but that was really all he could do. Clementine knew what this was, she knew that shit is gonna go down if anyone gets found.

And she was off, checking every room for some sort of hidden spot, in the bedroom sat a large pile of clothes crowded into the corner of the wardrobe.

Clem made a dash for it, covering herself in the mucky, disgusting clothes. Most of the shirts and pants in the pile were covered in large rips and tears. It was almost like smearing on walker guts.

Except this time you're not surrounded by the dead and there isn't a chance that when you turn around, your neck could be ripped out. The other members split up around the house.

Luke found a very cramped spot inside the bathrooms cabinet, Nick managed to slide under one of the couches in the living room and Sarah laid squished between the couch Nick was under and the thin walls.

Her glasses cracked, leaving a large crevasse across her field of vision, she squeaked and tried to adjust. "Sarah, I'm sorry, but you need to stay quiet." Nick whispers from underneath.

Her small feet were right in his face and some of the lose fabric from the flooring was getting up his nose, making his spot ten times more uncomfortable. Then came knocking at the door, they're here.

 _"Hello!? Anybody in there? Why don't you all just come out and we can take you home! There's food and water, shelter."_

The man waited for an answer, but all he got was silence. He was losing his patience, he needed them to show themselves or he would just do it the hard way.

 _"You know, I ain't a very patient guy, I'm coming in."_ He began trying to kick open the door, after about two kicks, there was a large open hole in the door.

He reaches in and unlocks the door, he sees the cabinet keeping the door from opening and he backs up, "Alright, we push as hard as we can, on one..two..three!"

The door comes flying open, moving the wooden cabinet out of the way. There stood four men in the doorway, each holding an assault rifle, the types different from each other.

They all wore a ripped piece of red fabric around their elbows, they must be apart of some gang. Almost mirroring Nazis.

"Come out come out wherever you are!" The man in the front called out, his voice bouncing off the walls and down the hallway.

The man in the front scratched at his spiky stubble and then started barking orders at the 'goons' behind him, "Find them!"

The goons began to wonder a bit, hardly even touching anything, if things kept going the way it was going, then the survivors would be safe.

"You all wanna play a game of hide a seek, huh? Alright then, we'll be the seekers and you'll get to hide, but once I find all of you, we **(A/N: Such Grammar XD)** heading back to camp! No more games."

The 'leader' wondered around the main room, smiling psychotically, the shade from his hat darkened his face, making it even more sinister.

"There's nothin' in here!" A goon exclaimed as he took a seat on the couch, Nick could feel him pressing against him on his back.

Sarah was terrified, shaking uncontrollably, now biting down her lip so hard that blood began to drip down her chin and filling her mouth with the metallic taste.

Nick realized that his whole body had tensed into a pack of taut wires; he forced himself to relax, still careful to control his breathing.

More shuffling of feet. Then a haunting set of whispers, as if the intruders had met in the middle of the room to strategize.

From the bedroom, Clementine strained to hear, to catch any words, but the harsh puffs of speech remained indecipherable. The survivors couldn't see them, it was too dark and they didn't wanna blow their cover by peaking.

"No!" one of them shouted. A man, but Clementine couldn't tell if it was ' _the leader'._ "No! No no no no no no no no." The words then quieted into a murmured stutter.

Another one of the goons cut him off with one of his own chants. "Yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes."

"Shut up!" That was the leader. Definitely the leader. "Shut up shut up shut up!"

Luke remained hidden and untouched in the bathroom, he felt cold inside, though sweat was beading on his skin. He didn't know if this exchange had any meaning whatsoever or was just more evidence of madness.

"I'm leaving," A man says, his words broken by an angry huff. He sounded like a child left out of a game.

The pitter patter of his shoes followed him as he left the building. Now there's only three.

"Me too!" This is from another man, well, they we all men.

"Shut up shut up shut up!" The leader yelled, this time much louder. "Go away go away!"

The sudden repetition of words creeped the survivors out. Only a few minutes ago, they actually seemed like they had a dictionary, the use of proper words and a bit of grammar.

Now it just seems like they lost it all, leaving only madness and what they were saying now seemed like some control over language had snapped in their brains.

Clementine was squeezing her own hand so tightly that it hurt. Shuffles of feet and swishing of clothes outside. Were they leaving?

The sounds decreased sharply in volume when they entered the outside, freedom, whatever. Maybe there's more people in their party and they're just waiting for the survivors to leave.

Soon it became silent all over again. Nick only heard the faint sounds of his and Sarah's breaths.

They all waited in their spots, the silence stretched out. They all kept listening, knowing they had to be absolutely sure. They all want to leave their spots, but they had to wait.

"I think they're gone." Nick finally whispered, he tries to get out of his spot.

"Hello there!" a voice yelled from the room, then a grimy hand reached under the couch and grabbed Nick by the shirt.

Nick shrieked, started swatting at the greasy and scarred hand. The man pulled, slamming Nick's body against the edge of the couch.

His face smashed into the hard wood and a burst of pain exploded around his nose, he felt blood trickling down.

"I GOT HIM!" The man shouted, probably calling all the others back, the man pushed him back a few inches, then pulled him forward again. Pushed and pulled again. And again, slamming Nick's face into the outer edges of the couch.

The rest of the survivors could hear the beat down and hesitated getting out of their spots to help Nick. Would they risk their positions to save him?

Nick couldn't believe the strength of the dude. Luke then made up his mind and ran out of his spot. He charged at the man, nocking him down to the ground and letting go of Nick.

In the distance was the sounds of the other 'savages' coming back over, they would surely be caught, but nobody needs to get beat to shit.

Luke pulled a knife out of his pocket and tried to slash at him, "You son of a bitch!" The man yelled as the knife missed his face by mere inches.

The man knocked the knife out of Luke's hand and then his only weapon was his bare hands, but before the first fist could fly into the man's face, Luke was tugged off his form.

The others are here, the leader smiled and kicked him dead in the chest, knocking him onto the ground, clutching it in pain.

The men then dragged the beaten farm boys out of the room and then outside, but Clementine and Sarah couldn't just stay there. They'll be dead in a matter of days, Sarah slowly emerged from her spot and faced the 'savages'.

They grabbed her and led her out, the last one to leave was the smallest. Little eleven year old Clementine.

Outside sat a large white van, the back doors wide open and waiting for them, something tells them that this ain't no picnic. The men needed them for something and whatever it was, it couldn't be good.

More labor? Or something worse. The men literally threw them in, their bodies colliding against the metal with a bang.

They all let grunts and moans of pain, it hurt. It was almost complete darkness inside except for some light managing to get through from the front of the vehicle.

This is where they began their new life, for better or for worse, this was a new chapter in their lives. They were on _'The Road to Hell'_. In the van, they were surrounded by cold darkness and stale, dusty air.

Metal ground against metal; a lurching shudder shook the floor beneath them. A sudden burst of speed had them on their hands and knees, trying ever so desperately to restrain themselves.

"Slow down!" Sarah cried as she slid to the back of the van, smashing against one of the doors. Her glasses were crushed and the glass almost completely shattered.

With another jolt, the van jerked upward like an old lift in a mine shaft. It swayed back and fourth, turning everyone's stomach sour with nausea.

They wanted to cry, scream, break free from this prison, but the purple skin covering their bodies kept them from doing so.

All they could do was lay there, wait for a bump and feel their bodies smash around the vehicle. It's been around an hour inside the prison.

Then, everything slowed down dramatically, no more bumps or halts. Just smooth driving. Everyone cooled down, rested.

And then, impossibly, they slept. Soundly and peacefully, laying on the ground, holding each other close for body heat.

Luke, while asleep, rubbed his arms to create friction. Heat. Blood was trailing from all of their mouths and noses, it was one hell of a ride.

But it's just getting started.

* * *

A nightmare woke Clem, something about Kenny being cornered by a bunch of walkers, angry walkers.

The first spill of blood finally jerked her awake, she looked around, worried that she said or yelled something. The back of the van laid in darkness, even the light from the drivers and passengers seat was gone.

It must be dark, she could barley see everyone else, but what she could make out was Nick propped up against the edge of the van with Sarah sleeping soundly underneath his arm.

Luke laid on the floor in front of her, but she couldn't tell if his eyes were open. But then he spoke, voice cracking and raspy, slightly gurgled.

"Bad dream?"

Clementine settled herself against the corner of the vehicle, then focused all of her attention to the beaten farm boy in front of her.

"Luke, what's gonna happen?" She asked, fear was present in her voice, it hurt Luke for her to be like this, he thought of her as a sister. He never had one, but now he does.

He had to be honest, but not too honest.

"I don't know Clem, but whatever happens, I'll be there. We're gonna be fine, we're gonna see the rest of the group again..I promise you."

"Pinkie promise?" Clementine asked, wearing a sad smile on her face, it was invisible to Luke, but he knew it was there.

"Pinkie promise."

Their pinkie's interlocked, a promise to last forever, never to be broken. He loved this girl with all his heart, he would gladly give up his life to protect her. He's gonna get her back to Kenny and the others.

He will.

Clementine moved from her spot and crawled over to Luke, attaching her tiny body to one of his large muscular arms.

"Thank you, Luke."

"No problem kiddo."

Snores then emerged from Nick's mouth, filling up the van with the sound, bouncing of the walls and firing straight into everyone's ears.

"If this continues, I might just have to wake him up." Luke murmurs.

"By 'waking him up', do you mean kicking him in the leg?"

"Pretty much."

"What's your story? I told you mine, but you never told me yours."

"I guess I could tell you. I was on my old mans farm with Nick and Pete, we were doing our regular routines, feed the cows, then the chickens- yada yada- When I was walking by the cornfield, I saw my folks..Undead. It was too late, didn't even notice till it was too late. We got out of there. People were being eaten alive all over the place. We picked up Nick's mom and hit the road. We came across Carver's camp, they let us in and we lived there. We saw what it was turning into, and we left, ran. Rebecca was just a few months into her pregnancy and Alvin was helping her every step of the way. Carrying her if he needed to. We came across the cabin and lived there."

He pauses to breathe before continuing, "We were out huntin' and Nick came across this lady, she was bitten, but we decided to help her. We brought her in and then...She turned, as I told you, Nick's mom got bitten and he had to p-put her down. It got quiet and then when Pete and I went out to hunt, we found you."

"Life is a bitch."

"It sure is, but sometimes, it ain't that bad."

A silence then loomed over the two, but a single four word sentence emerged in Clementine's head. She hesitated about saying it, but finally made up her mind.

"Luke, I lo-" _Snore..._

 _You're kidding me,_ Clementine though to herself. Luke, was out. His snores mixing with Nick's, she couldn't even tell who's it was anymore.

Since everyone was asleep, she might as well too, who knows? It might be the most stressful day of her life tomorrow, there's only one way to find out.

Her eyes slowly fluttered closed, letting the darkness take over.

* * *

 _*Clementine's dream*_

 _They finally arrived at their destination, a large brick building covered in hanging bodies, hanging from the roof and from broken open windows. People walked through the quads in chains, a guard in the back whipped them if they didn't keep up their pace._

 _They hauled stone and bricks for other incomplete buildings around the area, the sky was red as blood, making the terrain seem unrealistic, but she could feel it. The hot winds passing through her finger tips, making her hair blow around in her face._

 _She wore nothing but a large piece of a worn bed sheet, a man approached her from behind and pushed her down to the ground, she hacked up blood and clutched her stomach._

 _"Get up, you filthy dog!" He yells at her, spit flying and landing on her cheek, he roughly yanks on her wrists and pulls her away, into dark ally-ways and finally into a stone chamber, it reminded her of a castle's torture camber._

 _The man led her down more confusing and interconnecting hallways and then finally stopped at a large wooden door. He pushed it open and let her in, Clementine fell down on her knees crying at what she saw, the entire group was there._

 _Their bodies littered around on the ground with a countless number of stab wounds covering them, "You're next."  
_

 _He pulls out a knife and shanks her, killing her within minutes._

* * *

Suddenly, the van came to a halt, the sounds of a gate opening and shouting. They've arrived. The back doors to the van opened and the survivors were blinded by sunlight.

They all looked away, covering their faces with their hands.

"Look at them."

"How old do you think the girl is?"

"Looks like he's been out in the cold, his skin is purple!"

"They look like shit."

"Dude, it smells like feet in there!"

"Hope you enjoyed the trip, new meat."

"Ain't no turning back."

The survivors were hit with a wave of confusion, blistered with panic. The voices were odd, tinged with echo. They willed their eyes to adjust as they squinted toward the light and those speaking.

At first they could only see shifting shadows, but they soon turned into the shapes of bodies- people bending over by the van's doors, looking at them, pointing.

And then, as if the lens of a camera sharpened it's focus, the faces cleared. They were men and women, some of them older and some younger. Clementine didn't know what she'd really expected, but seeing those faces puzzled her.

Fear pumped into her system, _What are these people gonna do?_ Clementine thought to herself. Someone clambered in, a woman, short blonde hair, dark colored clothes, a mask, and familiar eyes, she's seen them before.

The woman pulled on clementine by her shirt and out of the van, "Hey, don't touch her-" "Calm yourself, ass wipe." She says, cutting Luke off, her voice is familiar as well. The woman then turns back to Clementine.

"Nice to meet ya, kid," She says. "Welcome to Wellington."

* * *

 **A/N:** Well, I hope you all enjoyed! Whenever I create a new story, I will be asking the audience on their opinion on wether I should continue or not, so tell me, did you like this? Would you like more of this book? Be sure to let me know in the reviews!

Also, I will be taking ideas for OC's! I'm in need of a few OC's for this story, so send your OC! Review and tell me or PM me!

 **(Stole this from Infintify, sorry, I give you credit!)**

Here's the format:

 **Name:**

 **Age:**

 **Gender:**

 **Personality:**

 **Facial appearance:**

 **Clothing type:**

Can't wait to see what you guys can create!

 **~GHOST**


	2. Glory and Gore

**OC's used in this** **chapter:**

 **Matthew(Cloud Strife)**

 **Midnight Bullet(ZeroBullet0)**

 **Thomas Harrington(Everyday Bro)**

 **If you did submit a OC and it didn't appear in this chapter, they'll probably show up later in the book. About 6 others were chosen, they just won't appear in this chapter. And, the characters that do appear in this chapter will only get short** **appearances, because it's only chapter two!**

Gladiator

 **Chapter two; Glory and Gore**

Enjoy!

* * *

The woman released her grip from Clementine's shirt, her companions stepped out of the back of the van, their eyes darted all over the place. To the people, to the sky, and to the ground. Clementine could hear them muttering curses and questions, but they were only echoes in her ears.

Clementine rotated in a small circle, the others snickered and pointed, some even reached out and poked her with a finger. They seemed pretty immature for people that were older than her.

There had to be at least thirty of them that swarmed around the four survivors. Their clothes were tattered and sweat seeped through the fabric. They must've been hard at work.

They were all shapes and sizes, some fat, some skinny, some muscular and some normal sized. Clementine's head began to spin, her eyes flickered around between the strangers and the _unusual_ place she and her friends found themselves in.

They stood by a large door, formed out of a rusty crate. In front of them were rows and rows of endless unfinished buildings, smoke from chimneys and small hobo fires rose into the air, polluting it and turning it dark grey color.

The unfinished buildings were made up of wood and cement, neither of which looked very clean or safe. Far in the distance was a huge stadium, probably before the apocalypse it was some sort of football stadium.

All around them were tall metal walls, and on the sides read: _Wellington._ This was Wellington, the place that, according to rumors and stories, was supposed to be a sanctuary. But, this didn't look like a sanctuary.

Dyed red sheets and red rags were tied onto lamp poles and pillars of wood. The red rags were identical to the ones the men back at the mobile home were wearing around their arms.

"What is this place?" Luke asked out of shock, analyzing every single detail of the place. The woman's attention shot towards him, "Did you not hear me? This is Wellington."

Nick's jaw dropped, he looked like he was going to pass out, all the color was leaving his skin and he turned pale.

"Oh my god." Nick muttered, he held his head in his hands while trying to process the information that was just given to him.

Sarah held onto his arm tightly, she looked scared, her eyes were wide with fear. Her glasses were almost completely destroyed, she could barely see anything through them.

"Hey, look at the kid!" A voice called out; Clem searched around for the person who said it, but no prevail.

"They're gonna fucking die from just looking at the place! Look at their eyes, guys!" Another voice called out, a woman this time. Probably around twenty to thirty years old.

It was so much for the survivors to process, all the people, Wellington, and just being taken away, forcefully.

Clementine looked back at the woman, the strangers around the survivors kept calling out at them and pointing as if they were some sort of extraterrestrial beings.

But not the woman. The woman just stared at Clementine, unmoving, except for her eyes, which were analyzing every bit of her body.

Clementine looked her dead in the eyes, drowning in the swirling green color. Then, realization smacked Clem in the face.

Molly.

"Mo-" Before Clem could get a single joyful word out, Molly abruptly kicked Clem in the leg. Hard.

An explosion of pain **(A/N: I know you're laughing,** **Emily!)** shot through her bones, she fell to the ground with a thud. Shouting and laughter filled Clem's ears, she could barely hear Luke rushing over to help her.

"What the fuck is wrong with you?!" He yelled at Molly. Molly slowly backed away a few inches and sent a sorrowful glance towards the eleven year-old on the floor.

Clementine clutched her leg in agony, she groaned in pain and Luke placed his hands on her shoulders, reassuringly. She didn't need to be cooed, he knew that.

Clementine's eyes darted towards Molly's, she could see, in Molly's green eyes, that she didn't want to do that. It was obvious, well, maybe not to the immature people around.

"Which crank are they gonna get?" Someone shouted from the back of the crowd.

 _Crank? What does that mean?_ Clementine thought to herself, utterly confused. Luke helped her into a wobbly standing position with a hand on her arm.

A man from the crowd stepped up to Nick and stared at him, a grin crawled up on his face. The man was taller than Nick by just a few inches, leaving Nick in a shadow. Nick was always the tallest, but now, he was the second tallest.

Nick felt fear by just looking at the man. The man might've been blonde, but he sure as hell looked tough. He was maybe around his late twenties or early thirties.

The man adjusted his cap and turned toward the others.

"Does he look like a tanker or is it just me?" He asked. The stranger's phrases didn't make any sense to Clem. She assumed it was just a slang term given to someone if they worked hard labor.

Nick was to afraid to ask or say anything about it. The strangers cheered and started chanting, "Tanker, Tanker, TANKER!"

"Shut up, Thomas." Molly muttered, the 'Thomas' dude turned to her and glared, but it appeared like he had enough common sense to avoid a fight.

He walked back into the crowd, but Clem could still see his baseball cap.

"BACK AWAY FROM THE NEW MEAT! OR I'LL SHOOT YOU ALL LIKE DOGS!" A booming voice said from behind. The guys that kidnaped the survivors walked around the van.

Weapons drawn. Stern expressions plastered on their faces. Everyone went silent.

"Hey-" A man from behind began to shout, but someone in the bunch of people pushed him and he fell to the ground by Clementine's feet.

The main member, the leader of their little group, stepped forward and aimed his sights at the poor mans head.

*BAM*

Some people in the crowd gasped, and some didn't move an inch, as if they were used this. That was a chilling thought.

Blood pooled around the man's body, drenching his clothes in the dark matter. The main member glared at the body and then glanced up at the suddenly silent people.

"Get him out of my sight, take him to sector five, NOW!" Two wimpy men scurried out from the group of people and dragged him away, blood trailing behind him.

The main member's eyes glanced over at Sarah.

"Hey, now you know what happens if you do that! Stop your cryin'. I don't want to fucking hear it." He snarled.

Sarah went so silent that Clem though she stopped breathing.

His eyes darted between the broken, terrified, and confused survivors.

"Now, ya'll are coming with me."

He looked at the strangers behind the survivors and glared.

"And to the rest of ya', GET BACK TO WORK!"

The others walked away and spread out, some even running. With them all gone, Clementine could see everything clearly now.

It was like a town, or even a city. Loudspeakers lined the roofs of the buildings, the streets were empty and smelled of rot.

But in the unfinished buildings, on the rooftops were people hammering away. Their faces covered in ash and sweat.

And heavily armed guards were everywhere. If they thought Carver's was bad, this was a living hell. There seemed to be no way out. They were trapped.

She saw Molly look at her one more time before vanishing into a building, she wanted to call out for her, but didn't. She really wanted to know why she kicked her, but she kept her mouth shut.

"Hey, tie them up!" The man ordered again, but as soon as that order leaves his mouth, Sarah tries to run. But one of the men ran after her and tackled her to the ground.

"Get off her, you son of a bitch!" Nick yelled as another one of the men held him back. Clementine was getting tried of calling them 'the men'. So, she searched around in her head for something else to call them, not even paying attention to the squirming Sarah.

Clementine didn't care much for her. She was a liability, and Clem didn't want to be around her. She was too innocent.

The Reds. She thought about calling them guards, but they seemed more like a gang. _The big boys on campus_ , Clem thought to herself.

Luke hesitantly let go of Clem's arm and put his hands behind his back, as if he was going to be arrested. The Red holding him back put his hands in cable ties and tightened them.

They eventually got to Nick, Sarah and then Clementine. Clementine hated cable ties. The thought of not being able to use your hands at will made Clem shudder a bit.

The Reds smiled evilly at them, the main Red was really the only one doing any talking.

"Alright, this way, ya' newbies."

The survivors followed The Reds through the empty streets. Workers from above pointed and whispered to each other as they walked by, but Clementine kept her eyes peeled for Molly.

Luke had a few questions.

"You're gonna just enslave us?" He was pissed. They beat his friend to shit, then him, right after Carver did, then they brought him here. Another terrible camp.

"Yep." The main Red answered, popping the 'P'. The Reds led them toward one of the more dirty buildings in the area, but this one was fully built. Bars covered the windows and guards hung around outside the doors.

"And what happens if I don't work?" Luke asked again, he knew the answer. After all, the survivors did just escape from Carver's camp. He just wanted to hear the answer from him.

Clem pulled her wrists, trying to break free from the ties, it hurt and it felt like it was cutting off her blood circulation, but The Reds ignored it. Probably because she was just a little girl.

"Well, dude, you're gonna regret it."

Luke wasn't ending the conversation, he just kept going. Interrogating The Red.

"Is that so? What are you gonna do?" Luke was loosing his temper, but The Red kept his cool, even though a little ways back, he shot a guy and started barking orders at the workers like they were soldiers.

 _This guy must have two sides,_ Clementine thought to herself. Once at the entrance of the building, The Reds pushed them inside. The guards stared at them as they walked by.

They walked into a dark room, a lone lightbulb flickered above a single desk in the middle of the room.

A teenage boy sat at the desk. His eyes had a kind tinge to them, Clementine could see it, even though his haircut covered his right eye. Looking kinda Emo.

He looked pretty muscular for his age. He pulled out a small clipboard from the desk and a pen from his pocket in his black skinny jeans.

His eyes flickered around all of the survivors. But they landed on Clementine and softened.

He sent her a sorrowful expression and looked up to The Reds.

"You had to bring kids, didn't you?" He asked sadly. Clementine's blood filled with concern. _What? Is there something about kids here?_ Clementine thought to herself.

"Shut it, Matthew. Just get them settled. We gotta hurry, tomorrow is the big day."

Now, Clem was just getting even more confused. _The big day? Did they mean a wedding?_ She thought, stupidly.

"Yeah..Names?" He asked, kindly. Clicking his pen and pressing it against a sheet of paper.

"Go on, tell em'. We can tell if you're lying." One of The Reds urged. Matthew looked over at Nick, and he stuttered his name, then Luke, then Sarah, and finally, Clementine.

"Clementine." She muttered angrily.

Matthew's smile faded and he wrote her name in a empty slot on the paper. He looked upset about something, but he tried to hide it with a smile. _Maybe it was something about tomorrow?_

Well, something here bothered him, but from the looks of it, he's been here for awhile, years maybe.

Matthew jotted down the time, names and the appearances of each survivor.

One of The Reds turned to the others.

"Ey, we gotta go, big boss is gonna need us," He looked at another one of them, "Mind staying with them? Making sure they don't try anything?"

The Red nodded and the others quickly left the room and scurried out the door, the sounds of their guns clinking and tapping together bouncing off the walls.

"What happens now?" Luke asked, glaring at Matthew. Matthew stuttered a response, nervously.

"Y-you'll be going to your cells."

"Cells?"

Before Matthew could continue, The Red grabbed a few keys in a small bowl on the desk. He turned to Luke and roughly grabbed him by the shirt.

"You shut your mouth, I'm getting tired of your shit! Now you follow me." He snaps, the survivors follow his orders.

The Red leads them out of the room and down a dark hallway, cells on each side.

They walk a little further down and The Red stopped in front of a small empty cell. He unlocked the door and grabbed Clementine's sleeve and threw her in.

Luke was about to yell something nasty at him, but The Red roughly jerked him over to the cell next to hers and pushed him in, and slammed the door shut.

Before closing Clementine's door, he snickered, "This is gonna be your home for awhile. You better sleep, big day tomorrow."

With that, he shut the door and walked away with Sarah and Nick, but before they could move out of Clementine's vision, she gave Nick a look saying: _You better be careful._

Nick nodded and vanished from Clementine's sight. Clementine slowly got up into a wobbly standing position and collapsed on her bed from exhaustion.

She rubbed her arms for warmth and listened hard for any sound from Luke's cell. She pressed her ear against the wall.

"Luke?"

She heard some movement through the walls, and then he spoke.

"Yes, kiddo?"

Clementine let out a breath of relief.

"Hello?" A voice calls out, Clementine's veins fill with panic. She tries to come up with words, but Luke beats her to it.

"Who's there!?" He asks, there was probably nobody in his room and there was no one in Clem's.

"I'm right next door." The voice said, sounded like a female. Young, probably just a few years older than Clem. She sounded kind-ish. It was hard to tell without seeing her face.

"Who are you?" Luke asked, calmer. He was always one for asking questions, but after awhile, all the questions got on Clem's nerves.

"I'm Midnight, most call me 'Bullet' though." She says, something in her voice made her seem honest. Clem felt like she could be trusted, but it was probably stupid if they shared any private information out loud.

"I'm Luke, the kid is Clementine." Luke said from his cell, it was okay for Luke to call her 'kiddo', but just using the term 'kid' for Clementine in front of others made Clem a bit annoyed.

"It's fine if you call me _kiddo,_ but don't call me a kid in front of strangers." Clementine said, annoyed. She could tell that Luke was faking a sorrowful and sad expression. She could imagine it in her head.

"Sorry, alright. Midnight-or Bullet- mind telling us about this place?" He asked, trying not to sound threatening, he wanted answers.

"Well, you two are greenies? Aren't ya'? I can only tell you what I know, and I've been here awhile. I fucked up and got thrown in here," She paused and continued.

"They say this place in gonna grow into something great, and that they'll do anything to make this hellhole, bigger, better, and stronger. There's guards everywhere, and those dudes that just threw you in here? Don't mess with them, they won't hesitate to pull the trigger."

Clementine already knew this from the recent events that took place today. But she listened, she was eager to learn about the place that might actually become her knew home. She let Midnight continue.

"Just, follow the rules and don't get in trouble. I'm lucky, they won't pick a person like me to be a tanker."

And there was the use of that word. Tanker. _What the hell does that mean!?_

"Sorry Midnight, but what's a tanker?" Clementine asked, Luke butted in.

"They said Nick looked like a tanker, please, tell us what it means."

Midnight took a second before continuing, probably to sort out a proper way to explain it.

"Remember when I said follow the rules? Yeah, people that don't follow the rules are thrown in here and have a chance of being a tanker. A tanker is basically a fighter, they fight for entertainment. It's sick, I know, but theres nothing we can do to stop them."

Luke and Clem both took a second to process the information that was just given to them. Luke managed to ask another fucking question, but out of pure shock and fear.

"You mean...Gladiators." Luke stuttered at the last word. Clementine was struck with confusion.

"Wha-what are gladiators?" Clementine asked, jumping out of her bed and holding onto the bars of her cell door. She tried to peer into Midnight's cell, but she couldn't see a thing. Pitch black.

"Gladiators are fighters, they fight to the death for public entertainment. They slaughter each other..For the amusement of an audience." Midnight answered, in her voice, she sounded sickened. Upset.

Clementine felt a queasy feeling in her stomach, for the first time in her life, she wished she was back at Carver's.

"When are the games? When do they fight?" Luke asked.

"Tomorrow. The matches are tomorrow. Tomorrow is the big day."

* * *

 **A/N: Hope you all enjoyed, make sure to** **review!**

 _ **Why so serious?**_

 **-JOKER OUT**

 **Well, keep submitting OC's!**


	3. Let The Games Begin

**A/N: OC's used in this chapter:**

 **Matthew (Cloud ****Strife)**

 **Midnight Bullet(** **ZeroBullet0)**

 **Thomas Harrington(Everyday Bro)**

 **Tess Harrington(Everyday Bro)**

 **Kira (Peanutfangirl)**

 **Marcie Reese(The Rose of Hedylogos)**

 **Jocelyn (Guts-and-angel-cake)**

 **Lots of OC's, I know. Some of them still haven't showed up yet. Well, just a warning for anyone who submitted an OC, I am a very dark writer. I could kill off your OC at any moment, okay? Just letting you know.**

Gladiator

 **Chapter three; Let The Games Begin**

Enjoy!

* * *

"So, this is the stadium." Nick muttered, eyes wide and mouth agape. Sarah, Luke, Clem, Nick and even Midnight were heading towards a large football stadium. On the inside, people were already taking up seats. They were cheering and yelling, some even wearing face paint. They had to walk up a few stairs to get up to their seats, or, whatever was left.

"Yeah, when they created Wellington, they had this big-ass stadium right in the center, and they also had a zoo, you can guess where I'm going." Midnight said, walking up a few more of the stairs and stopping at the top. Her purple hair blew around in her face but she secured it behind her ears.

Luke was holding Clementine's small hand, afraid that she would somehow get lost in the bustling crowd. Clementine could take care of herself, she didn't need to hold anyones hand, but Luke had his out for grabs. The entire time they were heading over, Luke didn't say a single word, nothing.

It kinda bothered Clem, but she let him be. Nick was codling Sarah, telling her everything was gonna be alright. They've grown attached to each other. Nick was all Sarah had left. Nick was more a fatherly figure to her, and she recently lost her father.

"Clem, say close." Luke finally said, but Clem could barely hear his voice from the amount of shouting that was happening around them. People walked past them, they were lucky they weren't trampled.

"Up here, guys!" Midnight called out, she went up a couple stairs and stopped at a clean rows of seats. They all took their spots. Nick sat next to Sarah, Clem sat next to Luke and Midnight sat at the end. Next to some guard. The stadium was a green color, but on the highest seats, red sheets were stapled to them.

"What's with all the red rags and sheets?" Luke asked and looked over Clem's head to see Midnight. She took a second before answering.

"Well, the guy in charge of all this bullshit is a fan of the color red. Like, how things or groups of people have trademark, for example, a seal or some shit. We just have a great big sheet of red." She answered, but Luke continued.

"Why do we have to be here? I'd rather be in that fucking prison." Luke asked, angrily.

"You see that," Midnight pointed up, she was pointing directly at a booth, probably the monitor room or something like that,"Inside there is a bowl, the bowl is full of names. Our names. At the end of each gladiator match, when there's only one person standing, they would pick someone from that bowl to fight the campion."

Luke buried his head in his hands and muttered too many curse words to count. Clementine, for the first time in awhile, felt fearful. It could be anyone of them, they could die today, surrounded by a cheering audience.

"Stop worrying, theres around a few hundred names in there, they ain't gonna pick you." Midnight said, smiling, trying to cheer them both up.

A guard stood right next to Midnight. It was a girl, tall. She looked to be around maybe sixteen or seventeen. Strawberry blonde hair reached her shoulders and her eyes hazel. She turned to the survivors and smiled.

"Hey, you guys enjoying everything so far?" She asked, Clementine had to literally cover her mouth to keep from screaming or yelling at the girl, but Luke practically had steam rising out of his ears. He looked up at the girl and snarled.

"What do you think?"

The girl laughed and turned to Midnight.

"Well, you certainly chose some great people to sit next to." She said, giggling a bit, like absolutely nothing was wrong.

"Fuck off, Kira." Midnight muttered, Kira just laughed again. Nick looked over Sarah's shoulder and glared at her.

"You think that this is funny? Watching people kill each other for entertainment? The hell is wrong with you!?"

Kira just wore the same smug expression, she snickered and happily walked away, like people weren't about to die.

"Sarah, when they start, just over your eyes, alright?" Nick said to the young girl in his arms, she was shaking uncontrollably, but she clutched Nick's shirt. He wrapped his arms around her, trying to provide her some sort of shelter or protection.

A man took a seat in front of them, blocking most of Clementine's view of the ring. It was that same man that called Nick a tanker. Thomas. A small little girl followed and sat next to him. Must be his daughter, they looked alike. Except Thomas didn't have any freckles, and the child did.

Thomas held onto her, wrapping a friendly arm around her tiny waist. The child giggled and messed around with Thomas's flannel.

"Love you, daddy." The girl said, a warm smile on her face, Thomas smiled down at his daughter and gave her a great big bear hug. He kissed her on the forehead.

"Love you too, Tess. If the games are a bit too much for you, daddy is here." He said, smiling at her daughter. Holding her tight.

Clementine couldn't help but smile at the sight. A loving father holding onto his child, it seemed like everyone could have a loving side. Never judge a book by it's cover, except Carver was evil to the core.

Thomas looked at Nick, he was a few seats away, but smirked at him.

"Don't get in trouble, you look like a tanker. Course they didn't pick you for this match because you just got here," He turned to Luke," You too."

"What do you mean _don't get in trouble?_ " Nick inquired, leaning over to Thomas's seat. Thomas set Tess down in her seat next to his and put his arm over the side of the seat.

"Well, they pick people from that jail to become tankers. That's why most people won't even try to escape or get in trouble, they'd be thrown in there." He continued and looked over to Midnight.

"Midnight, you tried to leave again, didn't you?" Thomas asked, Midnight looked down at him and pushed a few strands of her purple hair behind her ears.

"Shut up, Thomas. I need to find my parents, they're still out there. I know they are." She said, looking back down at her feet like they were the most interesting things in the world.

"Your parents?" Clementine asked, tilting her head so she could see Midnight's expression. Clementine knew how this girl felt, she knew quite too well.

"Yeah, those men, these people took me away from them. I didn't even get to say goodbye."

Clementine felt the urge to comfort the girl, but before she could even try, a loud alarm went off. It rang in Clem's ears and she put her hands over them.

Back in the monitor room, a man stepped up to a mic and tapped on it. The alarm stopped and all attention was directed on him.

"Who's that?" Luke asked, putting a hand over his eyes to block out the sun. Midnight gulped and her eyes narrowed at the man, pure anger and fury glossed over her eyes.

"The man in charge of all this shit. He's the leader, or the ruler, here. His name is Nate and he's a psycho."

 **(A/N: Yes, this is the 'Nate' from 400 days)**

'Nate' took the mic away.

"HELLOOOO EVERYONE! WELCOME! WELCOME! I SEE ALL YOU LADIES IN THE FRONT, DAMN SEXY! I HOPE YOU ALL ENJOY TODAYS MATCH! IT'LL BE GREAT, I ASSURE YOU!"

Nate's booming voice made Clem cover her ears again, how could someone be this happy about people fighting to the death?

Matthew was up there, yes, whenever Clem thought about his name, she thought of that man on the bridge. The one Nick shot. Matthew sat at the side of the booth and looked to be organizing the bowl full of names. Writing names down on tiny slivers of papers and dropping them inside.

Nate sat right at the font, his feet propped up on the railing. A familiar figure walked up beside him. Molly. _She's with Nate?!_ Clementine thought to herself, angrily.

"How could Molly do this?" Clementine muttered to herself, her hands bawling up into fists. Luke noticed.

"Molly? You know her?" He asked, soon enough, all of Midnight's and Luke's attention was on her.

"Yeah, she used to be in my group with Lee, back in Savannah. But, when I saw her again, she kicked me right in the leg."

"Well, Nate doesn't want to hurt her 'majestic' body and there's really no one close to her...Maybe she was trying to protect you. He probably would've used you to get to her." Midnight muttered.

The games had finally started. Guards shoved the unwilling tankers out into the arena. A mound of weapons stood in the center, but all melee. Swords and machetes, things like that.

Blood covered the dead grass like paint, a few unlucky souls were stabbed multiple times before dying, they came back, of course. Some others were ripped apart by the new walkers in the ring.

Sarah shielded her eyes and Nick crushed her to his chest, he covered her ears and just waited for the whole thing to be over. Tess, Thomas's daughter cheered on, when the person she was betting on died, she booed.

Midnight cringed at some of the unpleasant deaths. A single tanker ran up to the sidelines and kept screaming for help, but, alas, no one helped him. They just cheered when his head was ripped off his neck.

There was around 30 tankers at the start, but only one would walk out alive. The numbers kept dwindling, more bodies covered the arena floor. Walkers then started to roam around and went for the tankers.

They screamed, and they ran, but the guards kept them in there as if they were animals. Finally, there was only two left. A short man, skinny, no muscle at all, spent most of the game running. And there was a woman.

Tall, slender and well built. In other words, she looked like a whore. She wore tight dark jeans, combat boots, and a dark blue tank top, which showed off her breasts.

"Of course Marcie would be a victor." Midnight muttered, Clementine gave her a look, _who's Marcie? That girl?_

"I'm sorry I've had to pile so many names on you, but they're the important ones, I assure you. Marcie is always in the training center, when the tankers are selected, they get a chance to prepare for the games there. And Marcie is always there, wether she's a tanker or not."

Marcie dashed over to the man, he tried to fight her, but she swung her machete right at his neck. Slicing it open and causing a river of plasma to color his clothes crimson.

Everyone cheered, some started chanting her name. Marcie bowed before the audience, but before the shorter man could come back, she sent her machete flying into his head. She smiled as his blood covered her jeans.

Now, it was intermission. Matthew was finishing up with the names and people were getting out of their seats and walked around for a bit, to stretch their legs. Nick asked how Luke and Clem were doing, just peachy. Midnight tried to cheer Clem up a bit, but that wasn't working.

Out of all the people that they've met so far at this shit-hole of a camp,she was actually quite fond of Midnight and Thomas. Yeah, Thomas was into all the gladiator stuff, but he wasn't an asshole. He went through some stuff with the survivors, the rules, what you should and shouldn't do, yada yada.

Midnight backed him up on all of that. Giving extra details and such. Turns out, after awhile in the prison, they let you go and live in a decent place. But that doesn't mean you should escape, Wellington was covered in guards, and they had enough firepower to take out New York.

Midnight wanted to say something about escaping, but Thomas kept interrupting her. Midnight mentioned something about people going missing, she said it's been happening for awhile. But the others didn't take notice of it. Then Midnight went babbling on about rumors that spread around, which were actually true.

Turns out, there was a girl named Jocelyn, and she explored Wellington, well, at least tried. When she came back, someone ripped out her tongue. Everyone wanted to know who did it and why, but, alas, her tongue was gone. And, when people would ask her to write down the answers on paper, she refused.

Then, Nate tapped on the microphone again, it was time for the unlucky soul to go off and face Marcie.

Matthew was the one to pick out of the bowl, he crosses over to the glass ball with the names. He reaches in, digs his hand deep into the ball, and pulls out a slip of paper. The crowd draws in a collective breath an then you can hear the pin drop.

And everyone is feeling nauseous, and so desperately hoping it's not them. Matthew crosses back over to the microphone, smooths out the sheet of paper, and reads out the name in a clear voice. And it's not Luke. It's not Nick, nor, Sarah, nor Midnight.

It's Clementine.

Clementine remembered how she fell out of her tree house once, she missed a step and fell ten feet to the ground. The impact knocked out everything she had in her lungs, and she struggled to breathe, to do anything.

That's how she felt right now. She forgot everything, how to breathe, utterly stunned as the name was called out. Her name. She was going to fight Marcie. This had to be some mistake. Clem was one sip of paper out of thousands. And she's only eleven years old.

The crowd muttered unhappily and slouched in their seats, as if they wanted a person who would put up more of a fight. Blood drained from her face and her hands bawled up into fists. There was no way she was getting out of this. Guards were already eyeing her down, if she didn't move soon, they'd take her by force.

She tried to calmly leave her seat, but Luke grabbed her hand. His eyes were full of sock, he could barely comprehend what just happened. It was too hard to say goodbye.

Clementine released herself from Luke's grasp and headed down the stairs, followed by a group of guards. They took a ladder which was off to the side and set it down inside the ring, allowing Clementine to step down and enter.

She was going to die. Right here. Right now. She could feel tears welling up in her eyes, she wanted her parents. She wanted to see Lee again. She wanted to be safe. But here she was, about to die by the hands of a tanker. Marcie.

Clementine could've just given up right there, but as soon as she stepped down and onto the dead and decaying grass in the area, she had a bit of hope. She could survive this, brains beats bronze. Maybe she could outsmart Marcie, or maybe Marcie was smarter than she looked.

Marcie smirked at her opponent. In her eyes, Clementine could see that this would be easy for her. The crowd was screaming at the top of their lungs for Marcie to get it over with. They were only ten feet away from each other now.

Marcie pulled out the machete from the last Tanker's head and gripped it tightly in her hand, she ran right at Clem, knocking her to the ground. Marcie held the machete up to her neck, it's this detail that brings Luke back to himself. When the guards had their back turned, Luke made a run for it.

"CLEM!" The strangled cry comes out of his throat, the guards turn and try to push him away, but he breaks through. The others, Nick, Sarah, and Midnight, are all shouting. Sarah was crying, Nick wrapped his arms around her to keep her from running. Midnight's eyes were wide with shock and fear.

Luke falls into the arena, everyone around gasps, guards were getting in. Before Marcie could slice open Clem's neck, Luke blots at her and knocks her to the ground. He ripped the machete out of her hands.

"Luke!" Clem gasps, but it was too late. The guards were already there, attacking him and sending kicks and punches his direction. Blood trickles out of his nose and cuts and bruises form on his cheeks.

"NO STOP!" Clem cried out, as she made a dash for Luke,but a guard kicked her in the stomach and she fell to the ground. She could see Luke going limp. She couldn't get a word out of her throat, blood began to clog it.

Finally, a tear escaped her eye. It trailed down her cheek and landed in the dead grass. "Stop.." She managed to get out before her eyelids became heavy. The pain in her chest was deep and raw. Her stomach gurgly and unstable, fire in her veins.

Before she blacked out, she could see Luke being dragged away. _Were they gonna kill him? Or give him a worse punishment.._ Clementine dreaded to think about what they would do to him. Then the darkness took her, but the pain went with her.

* * *

 **A/N:** Lukey, Lukey, you did that for Clemmy? Aw, well, this story is gonna get darker from here on out.

 _Why so serious?_

-JOKER OUT!

May the real games begin :)


	4. Author's Note

Author's Note:

Hey guys, sorry for the lack of chapters. I've been busy and just got off a much needed vacation, the sucky thing is that school starts the day after I put this up. I'll be entering the 8th grade.

And for the people who also follow me on insta, sorry I haven't been posting much, I do have some artwork that I might upload, but I really only upload what, I'm at least, happy with.

Sooo yeah XD Sorry guys, hopefully I'll be back to uploading chapters soon. And I might not be active at all for the next week or so because of a special day..? Eh, I'm gonna be turning 13 on the 24th XD.

(Of course I still have more to say XD)

*For any supernatural fans out there, I have plans for uploading a Destiel&Sabriel One-shot, so keep your eyes open for that XD

*There will hopefully also be a Riley&Clem story coming up soon, though some of the plot is still in development. (For: Batman)

*ALSO, TMWB will be ending in the next 3-5 chapters(For however long that takes me to put up) And sorry for all the spelling mistakesXD.

*The other chapters to Gladiator is still being written, I'm enjoying working with the OC's :)

*REDRUM is currently on hold.

*Memory: The rest of the plot is kinda in development, probably because I didn't expect so many people to follow and favorite it.

Alright then, now thats out of the way XD

 _Why so serious?_

-JOKER OUT


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